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Alexis I. duPont High School (AI) is a public high school located in Greenville, Delaware, with a Wilmington postal address, is one of the three public high schools offering grades 9–12 in the Red Clay Consolidated School District. During the 2019–2020 school year 807 students were enrolled. Areas zoned to AI come from portions of Wilmington and several suburbs, including Greenville, most of Hockessin, a portion of North Star, and Centreville, as well as nearby Breck's Mill. In Wilmington, it serves the historic districts of Cool Spring Park, Delaware Avenue, and Wawaset Park.

In 2020, the high school was the site of the first campaign event featuring Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris.

History

Founded in 1893 under Principal A.R. Spade, Alexis I. duPont High School (AI) was originally a part of the Alexis I. duPont School District. AI moved to its current location in 1966 from where Alexis I. duPont Middle School stands today. Both schools left the AI School District in 1978 and were moved into the short-lived New Castle County School District, which split into the Red Clay Consolidated, Brandywine, Christiana, and Colonial school districts in August 1981.

Academics

In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked AI #9,632 of more than 18,000 high schools nationally and Niche ranked it #1 of 56 schools in the state of Delaware.

AI's graduation rate for the 2018–2019 academic year was 88%.

Athletics

AI is a member of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) and as of 2017 participates in Flight B of the Blue Hen Conference. Sports played within the DIAA league are: football, cross country, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, basketball, swimming, wrestling, baseball, golf, lacrosse, softball, tennis, and track & field. The ice hockey team is a Division I school within the Delaware Scholastic Hockey Association, which is hosted at the Patriot Ice Center in Newark.

Student activities

Music

They have marched in the inaugural parades for Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Barack Obama. They appeared in Pasadena's Tournament of Roses Parade in 1990, 1995, 1999, 2004, and 2008 and are one of three bands outside of California to take part five times. Other notable appearances include: the Orange Bowl and Fiesta Bowl (2006, 2010); the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland (1993, 1997, 2000, and 2003); the 2002 Queen's Golden Jubilee; New Year's Day parades in London (1989, 1992, 1996, 2005, 2009, 2012, and 2017) and the New Year's Parade at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City (2007, 2012, and 2015).

The Tiger Marching Band has attended the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia since at least 1979, the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in New York City and the Latin American and Christmas Parades in Wilmington for many years.

Vocal music at A.I. consists of several different ensembles, including a concert and a chamber choir, designed to meet the variety of needs, talents, and interests of high school vocalists.

The band is a student-run organization in which students, specifically an executive board of seniors, make nearly all of the governing decisions. Paul L. Parets, who had been the high school's band director since 1976, retired in the spring of 2012. The band has since been directed by Richard F. Weaver III, who is a 1998 AI alumnus and joined the faculty in 2003.

Notable alumni

• Rod Beaton (1951–2011), sports journalist for USA Today
• Jim Bundren (born 1974), former NFL player for the Cleveland Browns
• Mangesh Hattikudur (born abt 1975), co-founder of Mental Floss magazine
• Archie Hahn III (born 1941), actor
• Quadree Henderson (born 1996), football player in the Canadian Football League
• Henry Milligan (born 1977), professional boxer
• Jamie Natalie (born 1979), retired gymnast; alternate to the 2000 U.S. Men's Olympic gymnastics team
• Jeremy O'Keefe (born 1980), filmmaker
• Judge Reinhold (born 1957), actor
• Elissa Schappell (born abt 1963), novelist, editor, essayist, and co-founder and editor of Tin House
• Leo E. Strine, Jr. (born 1964), former judge and Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court
• Shirley Bulah, elementary school student whose mom became plaintiff in the successful Delaware desegregation case Bulah v. Gebhart

References

1. "Administration". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
2. "Home". A. I. duPont High School. Retrieved 2021-02-14. 50 Hillside Road, Wilmington, DE 19807 - The school is not in the Wilmington city limits, as seen in a comparison with the zoning map as of February 2021. See the map of Greenville CDP from the 2010 U.S. Census.
3. "School Directory". n.d. Archived from the original on 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
4. "duPont (Alexis I.) High School". 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
5. "AIHS_2016.pdf" (PDF). Red Clay Consolidated School District. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
6. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: New Castle County, DE" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
7. "Breck's Mill Area". National Park Service. Retrieved 2021-07-03. Duplex Worker's House at 164-166 Breck's Lane
8. "Cool Spring Historic District". National Park Service. p. 10/60. Retrieved 2021-07-04. 1000 Block Park Place, Wilmington, De. - Photograph # 5/30
9. "Delaware Avenue Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved 2021-07-04. 1300 Delaware Avenue
10. "Delaware Avenue Historic District (expansion)". National Park Service. Retrieved 2021-07-04. 1601 N. Broom Street
11. "Wawaset Park Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved 2021-07-04. Bounded by Pennsylvania Ave., Woodlawn Ave., Seventh St., and Greenhill Ave. - Compare to zone map.
12. "Photos: Joe Biden, running mate Kamala Harris speak at A.I. du Pont high school". 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
13. ^ "About Us". Alexis I. duPont High School. Archived from the original on 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
14. "Prof. A.R. Spade, Prominent As Educator, Dead". The News Journal. 1936-03-17. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
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16. Gorenstein, Nathan (1981-08-02). "New Castle County School Attendance Zones". The Morning News. p. B4A-B4C. Retrieved 2021-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "OPEN HOUSE". The Morning News. 1978-09-08. p. 19. Retrieved 2021-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
18. ^ "Dupont (Alexis I.) High School". U.S. News & World Report. 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
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25. "DELAWARE HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY LEAGUE (DHSHL)!". The Patriot Ice Center. n.d. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
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28. "List of participants in Tuesday's Inaugural Parade". The Virginian Pilot. 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
29. ^ Bouchat-Friedman, Danielle (2012-05-17). "Band director Paul Parets retiring after 36 musical years". Community News. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
30. ^ "Tribute to Paul L. Parets". U.S. Government Publishing Office. 2012. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
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32. "A. I. Dupont High School marching band celebrating 4 decades of Thanksgiving Day Parade participation". Yahoo. 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
33. Greene, Sean (2019-11-28). "A.I. duPont's band to represent Delaware in Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade". WDEL. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
34. "A. I. Dupont High School marching band celebrating 4 decades of Thanksgiving Day Parade participation". ABC6. 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
35. "Alexis I. duPont Tiger Choirs". n.d. Archived from the original on 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
36. ^ "Our Leadership". Alexis I. duPont High School Marching Band. Archived from the original on 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
37. May, Alison. "State to name 2020 Delaware Teacher of the Year". Delaware News. Department of Education. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
38. "Hugh R. "Rod" Beaton Jr". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. July 24, 2011. p. 32.
39. Tudor, W. G. (January 18, 1969). "Who set up student union–and why". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. p. 24.
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42. "Archie Hahn (actor)", Misplaced Pages, 2023-04-24, retrieved 2023-10-20
43. Tresolini, Kevin (2017-07-13). "Perfect 10s: Cancer fight strengthens bond between A.I. du Pont High quarterback, Pitt All-American". Delaware Online. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
44. "1993 Inductees". DE Sports. n.d. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
45. "For the University of Delaware, it was a year of change". The News Journal. 2000-12-31. p. 32. Retrieved 2021-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
46. "Alexis I. duPont". The News Journal. 1995-02-23. p. 89. Retrieved 2021-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
47. Cormier, Ryan (2006-02-10). "Wilmington's Judge Reinhold reminisces about Rockford Park, previews role on Finale of 'Arrested'". The News Journal. p. 45. Retrieved 2021-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
48. Soulsman, Gary (2011-11-21). "She's bringing out the spitfire in all of us". The News Journal. p. B5. Retrieved 2021-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
49. Waltz, Sam (2019-05-13). "Sam Waltz: Strine to Retire Soon?". Delaware Business Times. Retrieved 2021-07-05.

External links

• School website
• Tiger Bands website
• Tiger Athletics homepage

• High schools in New Castle County, Delaware
• Educational institutions established in 1893
• Public high schools in Delaware
• 1893 establishments in Delaware
• Red Clay Consolidated School District